ok, 12 miles down!

I finished the last long run of my half marathon training! When I say finished, I mean I moved my body 12.5 miles - 4 of which I had to walk. I was having a great run - it was cool and rainy - perfect temperature for running. I felt great! About 7 miles into the run, running down Sagramore Hill (biggest hill in Portsmouth,) my right knee started throbbing! It was excruciating! I'm sure it was my IT band tightening, but I just could NOT stretch it out! I jogged/walked another mile, but I could ONLY sustain a run for a minute. I walked the remaining 4 or so miles and made it back drenched, cold, sore, and grumpy, but I covered all 12 miles!

Now, I'm sitting on the couch, icing my knee, stretching, and eating ibuprofen. It feels a lot better today, but I think I'll take it easy this week. I start my taper Monday, so hopefully lots of stretching, easy running, and ice will work out the pain! My new plan is to just finish the half marathon - no time goal or perfect pace. I just need to get my body 13.1 miles!

New shorts+humidity+10 miles = pain and chafing!

The title says it all! I did a 10 mile long run on Saturday with my group. It was 80 degrees and humid! This weather is so strange! It's October! Anyway, I did finish all 10 miles with a slew of follys - detours, pains, and yes, chafing!

At mile 3 a fellow runner and I made a detour to a port-a-potty - very much needed and appreciated! But by the time I got back on the road, I was 5 minutes behind the group (not that I could ever catch them!) At mile 5, my knee started acting up, my legs were tightening, I managed to spill chocolate gu all over myself, and my new shorts started to rub the inside of my right leg. Needless to say, by mile 9, I was mentally done!! I couldn't see another soul from my running group and I was without my mp3 player (I'm trying to ween myself off it because we can't use it during the race!!) So I walked/shuffled the last mile to get back to the start - 10.1 miles in 2 hours and 1 minute (maybe I should subtract my bathroom break to make it under 2 hours!!)

All complaining aside - I did finish my longest run yet! Only one more long run before I start my taper - then it's race time.

Lesson learned - use bodyglide!

Run Indy

I'm in Indianapolis this week for work. I really like the city - it's very runner friendly! I've traveled to some very runner unfriendly places, but Indy makes it so easy! The Canal Walk/River Walk is across the street from my hotel and is a beautiful run! My only complaint is that the running path is concrete. My legs have taken a beating this week! Here's my run:

The Canal Walk


A fountain on the Canal Walk.


Indianapolis skyline from the north end of the Canal walk.


I'm impressed at the amount of art in Indy. Here's a sample, just on the run.



Allan Houser - one of my favorite sculptors. I was so happy to see one of his sculptures in Indy.


The RCA Dome and the new Colt's Stadium

Picture from Fox Point 5 miler

This just in!! L and I at the Fox Point 5 miler

9 miles - and I'm still alive!

I did my weekly long run tonight instead of Saturday. 9 miles! I averaged a 12 minute mile, which was good since I had to stop 5 times for various things.
Stop 1: To fix my right sock that was cramping my toes
Stop 2: 30 minutes in - water and homemade gu break
Stop 3: Stretch my calves that started getting stiff
Stop 4: 60 minutes in - water and homemade gu break
Stop 5: Stretch my hamstrings.

So as you can tell - my legs were tight! I need to get in some good stretching this weekend. I spent 20 minutes stretching after then run, but the legs are still stiff. I hope this gets better - I wouldn't want to feel this spent after the half marathon!

I dropped 2.5 minutes off my 5k!

After running 18 miles over the last week, I thought I'd be dead for the Great Island 5k. Yes, my legs hurt, yes, my legs were tired, and yes, it was cold - but I still managed to drop a whopping 2.5 minutes off my 5k time! I finished in 33:06, a 10:41 minute mile.

7.25 mile run!

This morning's group run was awesome. My longest run yet! My group was going 8.5 miles, but since I hadn't done 7 miles yet, my plan was to turn around part way and make it a 7 mile run.

We got started at 8am - about 75 degrees and no wind. The group took off like a bat out of hell, and I just let them go and settled into my pace with my new Feist CD on my mp3 player. I felt pretty good with one of my homemade gu in my belly. At the 45 minute mark, I had my second Gu (a real Gu this time that I got free from the running store.) It tasted like paste, but it settled ok. At the 7 mile turn around point, I felt like I could do 8, but I was sure I was at the end of the group, so instead of being dead last, I ran about another tenth of a mile and turned around.

Come to find out, I was not dead last - there were 4 people behind me! 2 of them turned around too, and we made our way back to the start. My knee started twinging at the end, but I think it's from a tight quad, not an actually knee issue (at least I hope!) I got a good stretch in and feel great now. Tomorrow is the Great Island 5k - until tomorrow!

Lessons from 6 months of running!

I have been officially running for 6 months. Yippe!

To keep with last months reflections on running, I will list some lessons I've learned this month:

Lesson 1. The best pre-run food(for me) is Cliff shots or anything made with brown rice syrup. I've experimented with GU, Cliff bloks, Powerbar gel, jelly beans, bananas, peanut butter, and the dreaded Luna bar - nothing really settled well in my stomach.
After studying the ingredients of the Cliff Shot (which is pricey I must say) and looking for some recipes online, I have come up with my own energy gel that seems to work:

4 Tbs brown rice syrup
2 Tbs agave syrup (nector)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
Cocoa power, vanilla, or peppermint extract for flavor(go light on the peppermint!).
My current batch is mint chocolate - but I think I'll do vanilla next.

This makes about 3-4 1oz packets. I have one of those foodsaver vacuum sealers, and I just make little mini-packets from the baggies and cut a little starter slit for easy opening.

Lesson 2. I'm a slowpoke, but I'm getting faster! I started this running adventure at a 13-14 min/mile pace, which is slower than many nuns, grandparents, and toddlers (I'll have to bLog about the nun and the toddler sometime)! I now average 10:30-11:00 minute miles (sometimes 11:30)!! Not great, but not bad!

Lesson 3. My entire family now reads my blog, so I have to start making regular posts! You'll be hearing a lot more from me!

Report on my absence....

Last week was a blur! I was in a friend's wedding that started on Wednesday and didn't end until Sunday! Needless to say, I didn't get in all my runs last week (I only ran twice :( ). I still have 6 weeks until my 21k, so I think I should be okay.

I need to find a way to keep up with my runs while traveling or vacationing. I have a trip in a week, and I need to keep running. I do bring my stuff along, but it's hard to run when everyone else is having fun!

So today, I'm back on the wagon! I finished 5.7 miles without too much difficulty. I have a group run tomorrow, so we'll see how I keep up!! I never run as fast on my own as I do with the group. Such is life!!